page_title: The Demon of Brownsville Road
section_title: Criticism
hierarchical_section_title: The Demon of Brownsville Road / Criticism
caption_attribution_description: English: This is the house from the book "The Demon of Brownsville Road.
context_page_description: The Demon of Brownsville Road is a book by Bob Cranmer and Erica Manfred, published in August 2014. The story is also the basis of a series of television documentaries and dramatizations released between 2011 and 2016. The book is claimed to be based on the paranormal experiences of the Cranmer family, with Bob Cranmer telling the first-person account.
context_section_description: With the notoriety of the book in the metropolitan Pittsburgh area, one of the two major newspapers (The Post-Gazette) decided to do an investigative article about the story. Many of the individuals in the book were interviewed and some of the historical accounts were checked. The doctor cited was verified to have been a local resident, as was his nefarious abortionist reputation, obviously with no official records existing for the decades-old illegal activities. Fr. Ron Lengwin, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, affirmed every aspect of the book along with the official involvement of the Catholic Church.
  However, the primary source of criticism came from several children or grandchildren of the two families who preceded the Cranmers' living in the house (a period of 47 years, all previous owners being deceased). They all claimed to have no recollection of any paranormal activity in the house and said that the story was fabricated by Cranmer for his own waning notoriety. Cranmer retorted that the Joyce children (of the prior owners) were upset that the reputation of their deceased parents was possibly being besmirched by the book. (Even though a fictitious name was used to identify them.)  Coincidentally, the couple died of natural causes in the months just prior to the book's publication.
  Cranmer stated that Mrs. Joyce made it clear to both him and his wife that she "detested" the Wagners, who had sold the house to them. He stated: "People are always concerned that they can be held legally liable if they do not reveal to buyers problems of a spiritual nature with a house, - which I discovered is not the case in Pennsylvania. Their reactions are obviously intended to cover up the deception used in selling the house, both in 1979 and 1988. The house was not officially sold in 1941 by the original owners, but was purchased via a Sheriff's sale. The house sat empty then for an extended period and became known as the haunted house by the local children who ventured into it."
  Cranmer also states in the book that one daughter (Barbara Wagner) who grew up in the house did (reluctantly) detail significant paranormal activity to him while he was writing the book (she died before publication). He also stated that the son of a man who had grown up in the neighborhood during the 1930s affirmed that the house was widely known to be haunted. In addition he claims that one of the sons of the previous owners (the Joyces) verified strange activity to him before that son understood that a book would cast an unfavorable light upon his deceased father. Cranmer has offered to pay for and take a lie-detector test concerning any of the claims presented in his book as long as the three adult children of the previous owners join him. Subsequent to publication (July 2016) a granddaughter of the doctor (presented in the book) contacted Cranmer to tell him that even though she was too young at the time to know of her grandfather's illegal practice, she could confirm that his personality and "evil demeanor" fit what her early memories could recall. The story didn't surprise her as she described him "throwing shoes at her" when she was a toddler.
  Cranmer's response to the article, which was printed by the Post-Gazette three days later, is as follows:
  October 29, 2014 12:00 AM
  Any author should relish an article about their book by a major newspaper, positive or negative. However, the recent PG coverage of my book was over the top (“Former Residents of Brentwood ‘Demon’ House Dispute Book,” Oct. 26). The front-page Sunday article clearly sought to discredit the story, its basis in Christian faith and its controversial topics.
  I’ve dealt with the press enough to know that when an article is to have a slant nothing one says can change it. I spent almost two hours on the phone with the reporter, successfully addressing every objection, yet only a few brief comments from me were published. Once I determined that the reporter’s intent was negative, I simply braced myself. But if it prompts more reading of the book so much the better.
caption: The house in 2013
exif: {"Image Make": "EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY", "Image Model": "KODAK EASYSHARE Camera, C1450", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "480", "Image YResolution": "480", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2013:08:21 15:34:50", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image Rating": "0", "Image ExifOffset": "14242", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "35620", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "2532", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/500", "EXIF FNumber": "7/2", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "80", "EXIF SensitivityType": "ISO Speed", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2013:08:21 15:34:50", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2013:08:21 15:34:50", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "9", "EXIF ApertureValue": "361/100", "EXIF BrightnessValue": "8", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "361/100", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, auto mode, red-eye reduction mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "49/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2880", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2160", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "35474", "EXIF ExposureIndex": "80", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Custom", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "27", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "3", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "KCGRD13721721"}